There had been worries about whether Estonian broadcaster ETV would be able to fund the event; however, worries were put to rest when a combination of fundraising activities and the Estonian Government enabled them to host the event. The theme implemented for this year's contest was 'a modern fairytale', which was evident in the postcards aired between the songs, which showed classic fairytales ending with Estonian situations.[2][3]

A total of 24 countries competed in the 2002 Contest, which included the top 17 countries from the previous years contest, alongside the seven returning countries which had been relegated from competing in the 2001 Contest. These countries replaced the bottom 6 countries from the 2001 contest, which were relegated from taking part in this year's Contest.

The total participants had originally been 22, but when the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) increased their participation number for the Contest to 24 this granted Israel and Portugal the opportunity to enter. Portugal declined to enter the Contest due to internal problems in the Portuguese broadcaster RTP. This allowed Latvia (who went on to win the Contest) to enter.[3][4]

Controversy erupted during the competition over remarks by commentators on Swedish and Belgian TV, both of whom told the audience not to vote for the Israeli singer Sarit Hadad. Hadad received zero points from the Swedish audience but earned two from the Belgians, finishing 12th overall.[5]

Half of the participating countries organized a televote where the top 10 songs received the points, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 12, but Macedonia, Romania, Russia, Turkey and Bosnia and Herzegovina used juries, while Cyprus, Greece, Spain, Croatia, Finland, Malta, Slovenia and Lithuania used a 50-50 mix of both televoting and jury votes.

In the televoting household shall not be permitted to vote more than three times.[9]

This was used as it had become apparent that the public vote favoured songs in the later part of the running order in comparison to the songs nearer to the start - particularly in the preceding 2001 contest. This year saw allegations that the juries in use were guilty of swapping votes between each other(Cyprus, Greece, Russia, Macedonia, Malta and Romania).[10]

As had been the case every year since the mid-1980s, the contest was broadcast in Australia on SBS-TV with the BBC commentary. Within a few years, the contest would grow to be so popular in Australia, it would warrant SBS sending its own commentators.

After the breakup of Yugoslavia, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia last participated in 1992. Radio Television of Serbia broadcast the show. Originally, first time as Serbia and Montenegro had planned debuts, but the EBU's late changes to the relegation procedure meant that they could not compete. They made their debut in 2004

An alternative cover showing the title as Eurovision Song Contest: Estonia 2002.

Eurovision Song Contest: Tallinn 2002 (also known as Eurovision Song Contest: Estonia 2002) was the official compilation album of the 2002 Contest, put together by the European Broadcasting Union and released by Ariola Records on 18 May 2002. The album featured all 24 songs that entered in the 2002 contest.[40]